CHAPTER 26

“Hi,” Drew said, walking up behind Selma in the bathroom and wrapping her arms around her middle.

“Hi,” Selma greeted as she packed up her toothbrush and toothpaste after brushing her teeth. “God, my lips are so swollen right now.” She shook her head.

“I did that,” Drew stated proudly.

“I’m pretty sure I had something to do with it, too.”

“Yes, you did.” Drew kissed her on her bare shoulder. “And I did this, too.” She ran her fingertip over the spot she’d just kissed.

“Did what, exactly?”

“Gave you a hickey here.”

“What? Drew!” She leaned forward to look at the spot in the mirror.

“Relax. You can hardly see anything. Your skin is a ridiculously perfect caramel shade. Only I will know it’s there because I put it there. Besides, you’ll be in winter clothes, and your shirt will cover it, too. Have I mentioned that you should just always be in a sports bra around the house?” She pulled Selma back against herself. “You look good in only a sports bra.”

“I haven’t put my shirt on yet, but you were supposed to be packing out there.”

“I saw you through the mirror out there and had to come in. Sorry, but I couldn’t resist.” She kissed Selma’s shoulder again. “I didn’t leave much of a mark anyway. It’ll be gone by tomorrow. And I’m a little sad that I won’t be there to make a new one.”

“That’s what you’re sad about?”

“No, I’m sad that we’re flying to different places today, and we only got the chance to have one date this week.”

“One official date, maybe. But I think we could consider the other nights, I don’t know, warm-up dates.”

“Warm-up dates?” Drew asked as she ran a hand over Selma’s bare stomach.

“I liked you. You liked me. We were testing the waters a little.”

“I didn’t know you liked me.”

“Oh, come on,” Selma said. “You had to know. I’ve been all over you. And it’s not like I’ve pushed you away when you were all over me.”

“Do you know how many straight women have touched me how you’ve been touching me?”

Selma lifted an accusatory eyebrow at her in the mirror and said, “No. Do I want to know?”

“It’s not a hundred or anything. I just meant that I’m gay. Some women know that, and sometimes, they either like the attention from a gay woman, are confused, thinking they might want to do something with a woman when they actually don’t, or, something else entirely, and it turns out they’re not really interested. I’ve crashed and burned a few times because of that. I was not about to crash and burn with you, Selma.” She kissed Selma softly on the neck. “If you would’ve told me no yesterday – that you’re straight, or, even, that you’re not, but you’re just not into me like that – I still would’ve wanted to be your friend. It would’ve been hard for a while because I really, really like you and love what we did last night, and I want more of that as soon as possible, but I don’t want to lose you from my life. So, I didn’t want to take any big chances. Then, in that moment, after my race, I couldn’t hold it in anymore, though. I guess I just had to know.”

“Drew?”

“Yeah, babe?” She skated her lips over Selma’s neck.

“I don’t want to date anyone else.”

“Okay. Good.”

“I mean that I don’t want either of us to date anyone else.”

“Okay. Good,” Drew repeated.

“I want to be with you exclusively.”

“Do I need to say, ‘Good,’ again?” Drew looked into Selma’s eyes in the mirror. “I want that, too, Selma.”

“You’re sure?”

“Do you not think I am? I’ve made it pretty clear how I feel about you. I rushed back from the mountain yesterday. I skipped the podium to get back to this hotel as quickly as possible so we could talk.”

“Yet, you still stopped by your room to shower and change,” Selma teased.

“I was sweaty and gross. I’d raced that day. Besides, I wasn’t going to come here to talk to you in my Team USA stuff. Can you turn around now? I want to kiss you for, like, an hour.”

“We have to go, Drew,” she said with a little laugh. “And I think if we did that after doing that for most of the night, my lips might just fall off.”

She did turn around in Drew’s arms, though.

“Well, that’s not a risk I’m willing to take. But can I have the next five minutes, at least? Think the lips can handle that?”

“How are you this cute?” Selma wrapped her arms around Drew’s neck. “I never would’ve thought you’d be like this. You come off as such a hard-ass.”

“I’m only like this with you,” Drew confessed.

“Oh, come on… You’re like this in all your relationships.”

Drew shook her head.

“Andy?” Selma checked.

“Not really, no. I was at a different place when I was with her, though.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was… well, I was arrogant, cocky, and kind of a hard-ass, yeah. When she and I started dating, I was at the top of my game and a little bit of an asshole to others around me.” She wrapped her arms around Selma’s waist. “I don’t think I ever gave her all of me. Then, I went home without a medal, and I was disappointed. I became even more of an asshole to her. I was lost. I’m not lost anymore.”

“No?”

“No. I’m still not sure I’m done becoming whoever it is I’m going to become yet, but I feel a lot better about who I am right now. Part of that is due to all the work I’ve done on myself to get back to where I wanted to be on my board and outside of sports, but the other part is because of you.” Drew smiled softly and kissed Selma on the forehead. “You make me want to be better, Selma. You’re special. And I feel like I can be my whole self with you in a way I’ve never been before. Sorry if I’m laying all this on you way too soon, considering we’ve been girlfriends for all of a minute. I just… I don’t know. I feel like I want to be totally honest with you.”

Selma smiled and said, “Girlfriends?”

“You said you wanted to be exclusive.”

“I do. I’ve just never had a girlfriend before.”

“And? How does it feel?”

“Pretty good so far. My girlfriend is amazing, and I am totally into her.” She leaned in and kissed Drew on the lips.

◆◆◆

The airport had been harder than Selma had expected, and they didn’t even have to go all that long without seeing each other. The Winter X Games were coming up in Aspen, Colorado, this year, so they’d see each other there soon. It was only two weeks away. Still, Selma had hugged Drew long and hard as they stood at her gate since Drew’s flight boarded twenty minutes after hers. Then, after she’d kissed Drew without thought that there had been hundreds of people standing around them, Selma had realized that had been the first time she’d kissed another woman in public, and she couldn’t have cared less what any of those people had thought. She’d wanted to kiss her new, long-distance girlfriend goodbye, so she’d done it.

“I’ll miss you,” Drew had said.

“I’ll miss you, too. Text me when you land and when you get home, too, okay?”

“I will,” Drew had replied with a smile. “And I know you’ll want to spend time with Gia tonight and that we’ll both be tired, but can we still talk, even if it’s just to say goodnight?”

“I’ll call you after she goes to bed. We can talk as long as you want. Of course, we both got very little sleep last night, so it’s possible I’ll fall asleep on the phone, but don’t take offense.”

“I won’t.” Drew had kissed her again. “They’re going to close the door. You have to go.”

“I know. Text me.” Selma had backed away, but she still held on to one of Drew’s hands.

“Babe, I will. The moment the wheels hit the ground, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Fly safe,” Drew had said.

“I will.” Selma had had to let go then and hated it.

Normally, she would’ve been excited about going home after any competition because she’d get to see her daughter, but this time, she was a mix of emotions. She missed Drew from the second the door closed behind her, and as much as she wanted to hug her daughter and hear about her week, she also wanted to be back there, in that hotel room with Drew again.

They’d kissed for hours. Drew had had her mouth all over Selma’s neck and shoulders before she’d moved lower to kiss Selma’s stomach. Hands had grazed breasts over shirts, and Selma had felt Drew’s hard nipples pressed to her own when Drew had been on top of her, kissing her slowly and deeply. Selma had nearly asked her to use that amazing tongue of hers somewhere else, but she knew they weren’t ready.

Despite losing the competition, the whole reason for her being there and away from her family, it had been the best week of Selma’s life. When she landed, she checked her messages first to make sure there hadn’t been any kind of Gia or Grandma-related emergency at home, but then also to see if Drew had texted. She hadn’t yet, which meant she was still in the air, so Selma got off the plane and headed to baggage claim to wait for her stuff. Then, she decided to text Drew so that she’d have something to read when she got off her own flight.

Selma Driscoll: So… I miss you already. Is that too much, too soon? If so, I don’t really care. You’ll want to get used to me telling you that I like you since I’ve been holding it in for so long. I used to see you around places and, obviously, on the mountain, but I’d have to tell myself not to stare because you were just so beautiful to me. I kind of can’t believe I get to tell you that I think that now, but I wanted to do so, so I did. And now, I’m just continuing to type because I’m bored waiting on my luggage. I miss you, Drew. I want to figure out when we can see each other without snowboards involved. Can we do that when we talk tonight?

Selma hit send and slipped her phone into her coat pocket in order to pay attention to the baggage carousel. A minute later, her bags appeared, and she headed out to find an Uber to take her home. Her phone pinged the instant she sat down in the back seat of the car.

Drew Oakes: Landed. I already miss you, too. And you can always tell me how you feel, even if it’s a bad thing, like you think I’m being an asshole or something. You’ve done that before, and I think it works for us. Also, I think you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, Selma, and I can’t believe I get to tell you that now, too. When you call me tonight, we can talk about whatever you want. If you want me to come there again, I will. It might be a little awkward, with Gia and your grandma there, but I’ll get my own room, and we’ll figure it out. If you want to come here, you can walk through my door anytime, and I will always be happy. Let’s talk more tonight to plan something, though. And text me when you’re home safe, please.

Selma smiled as she read and reread the message. Drew was totally different than the woman she’d first encountered a little over three years ago. Their circumstances, of course, had been different as well, but after their interaction at the Olympics, Selma never would’ve predicted that her crush on a fellow snowboarder would turn into real feelings for Drew. Now, she was worried about the distance between them, the fact that she had a daughter who was clearly obsessed with Drew, and what Gia might go through if it didn’t work out between her and Drew. If she was being honest with herself, though, she was also worried about what she might go through if they didn’t work out.

“Mommy!”

Selma smiled when she saw Gia standing by Kirsten at the front desk. Gia had turned to see who was walking in through the front doors, saw Selma, and ran toward her.

“Hi, baby.” Selma bent down to hug her kid. “Oh, I missed you.”

“I missed you, too. And Kirsten said I could have a cookie. I wasn’t just taking one.”

Selma laughed against her daughter’s neck.

“You can have a cookie. It’s okay.”

“We were doing homework upstairs before that, I promise.”

Selma pulled out of the hug and said, “I believe you, Gia. Want to go back up after you get your cookie?”

“Can Kirsten come?”

“If she wants to and Kelly says it’s okay, sure.”

Selma was grateful that Kirsten had wanted to go up for a few more minutes because that gave Selma a minute to catch her breath, and with that minute, she showered quickly and texted Drew that she was home.

Drew Oakes: I just got home, too. How’s Gia?

Selma Driscoll: She’s hyper, as always. And she’s with a friend right now, so I have a minute.

Selma’s phone rang right away.

“Hi,” she said with a wide smile on her face.

“I’ll see you in two weeks.”

“Yes, you will.”

“I can’t wait,” Drew added.

“Me neither.”

“Have you booked your room yet?”

“Yeah,” Selma replied. “Why?”

“Do you maybe want to cancel it?”

“My room?”

“Yes, Selma. I was thinking I could book a nicer room for both of us, and we could stay in one room. Specifically, one bed.”

Selma smiled shyly and blushed a bit before she said, “Yes, to all of that, please.”